Lael Summer has been performing ever since she can remember, and after landing some sweet gigs, making some big-name connections, and training at the University of Southern California in the Popular Music Program, she’s ready to show the world what she’s made of. Her debut album, “Burden to Bear”, is her soul musically articulated in 12 equally engaging and diverse tracks, with genres ranging from smooth R&B to ballads to raging funk rock, and I was lucky enough to get a chance to dive into the album. Be warned though: once you get sucked in, you’re not getting out.

The album opens with the instantly likeable “I Need A Man”—a four minute romp through Summer’s unfortunate past experiences with the male species. One of my favorite aspects of Summer’s writing is her extremely blunt lyricism, which pairs nicely with her strong attitude and delivery. If the song’s title isn’t blunt enough, you’ll quickly come to admire the fact that she has nothing to hide in her songs. “I just ain’t satisfied”, she says matter-of-factly, and realizes by the end of the track that she needs to “stop this foolin’” with someone who isn’t going to take her to the finish line. “You’re So Small” might have some of the most direct (and entertaining) lines on the album, including, “I got twice the balls that you do”. There are other gems in that track, but I'll refrain from ruining all the surprises for you.

While she certainly can carry a song herself (see: mid-album ballad “Make You Whole), Summer also benefits greatly from the strong backing band behind her. The group boasts an impressive brass section filling in the spaces between her smooth lines, and the three different bass players on the record are always holding down the rhythm section quite nicely. “Kiss and Tell” is a late album star, thanks to the wonderful pairing of Summer’s surprisingly optimistic lyrics and the energetic band behind her.

Perhaps what’s going to help Summer the most down the line in this brutal music industry is her down-to-earth, inspirational lyrics. In “It’s About Soul”, she belts out a message that’s all too often ignored these days: “It ain’t about my legs / It ain’t about my thighs / It ain’t about those magazines poisoning our minds”. Music should never be about sex appeal, but the big bosses in charge of corporate labels seem to continuously perpetuate that sick notion. Luckily, Summer is on our side of music, though—the independent side. She’s going to sing about what she believes in, and if you don’t agree, well, you’re probably not on our side anyways. Music ain't about anything other than soul, and no one has more soul than Lael Summer and her band, so please, do yourself a favor and, give them a listen now!